


Unpacking

by emef



Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Jared is so done, M/M, Richard is even more of an abusive friend than usual, moving day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 20:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12638970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emef/pseuds/emef
Summary: Jared moves to a new condo.





	Unpacking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [crucialandinert](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crucialandinert/gifts).



> Thanks to crucialandinert for the prompt and the brainstorming.
> 
> I put in the Jared/Richard tag, because there's definitely something going on there, but when I started the story my goal was to have Jared tell Richard just how full of shit he is. So. They're not going to hug and make out in this one, is what I'm saying.
> 
> Unbetaed.

So he’s moving from one condo to another, and Jared wouldn’t know how to describe the experience.

He used to move all the time. Often enough that, age 17, Jared was used to waking up and taking a full minute to remember where he was. It had become a familiar sensation.

Once, he’d been staying with his foster cousin Lisa for three weeks, and suddenly Lisa had said that he should probably move out because her boyfriend didn’t like him. So he’d ended up becoming roommates with a college friend he’d only met the week before. He still remembers waking up the day after moving in, slightly bewildered and unable to remember the location of the bathroom.

He’d only really brought a backpack with him; he’d slept on the floor. Now he’s in his thirties and he has a bed and so many other things that he needs a truck to move from one place to the next. It’s - it’s both easier and harder. When he was 17 his worries were tangible - how to keep his shelter safe; where his next meal would come from - and his life was viscerally straightforward. Now his worries are more abstract - how to make his life meaningful - and he’s occasionally bewildered by the wildly diverse array of potential concerns that his life presents.

For example, he currently must decide which item of furniture to unpack first, and where to place in his new living room. But he had two days to do this, and could therefore select to nap before unpacking. He could also, given that it is 11am on a Saturday, decide to head out to brunch. Were his life more straightforward, he would immediately know what to do. But currently, he has nothing to guide him with respect to priorities.

He has also received three text messages from Richard, to which he could respond. They’re not urgent text messages, they’re rather quotidian. ‘Hey where are the extra phone chargers’ etc.

Jared wonders if he should remind Richard that he’s moving today. His new building has tighter security than the previous one - he should probably let Richard know about that. Also it’s bigger. And it has a guest room.

'I’m moving to a new condo today,’ he texts back.

Richard responds almost immediately, which either means that he’s bored or that he’s been kicked out of the workroom by Gilfoyle. 'Need help?’

'No,’ texts Jared. 'But I could use some company.’

*

“Every time I’ve moved people brought pizza and beer, so.” Richard, less than half an hour after being invited, stands at the door holding out a square cardboard box and a six pack. “Here’s pizza and beer.”

“Welcome to my new abode, Richard!”

“It’s… bigger.” Richard Hendricks is not very eloquent. That is - he is eloquent, but only when angry and provoked. Then he can wield an analogy or two. Even a metaphor. But the rest of the time he seems generally bewildered by anything that involves talking.

He wanders further into the condo, until he’s standing in the middle of the boxes in the dining room/living room. He’s wearing, Jared notices, a striped sweater that brings out both his eyes and his hair. Richard can be very physically appealing, sometimes. He’s a catch.

“Yes! It is bigger than my previous condo.” Normally Jared would give Richard a tour, but half the doors are blocked by boxes, so he just lists the rooms instead. “There’s a kitchen, dining room-slash-living room, bedroom, office, bathroom, and a second bedroom.”

“A second bedroom? Looking for a roommate, there, Jared?”

“Perhaps.” he says, shrugging. He’d taken the condo because it was a solid investment, truth be told. “I haven’t ruled it out.”

Richard runs a hand over some boxes. When he speaks, he doesn’t look Jared in the eye. “D'you… do you think you and I could be roommates?”

The violence of Jared’s reaction genuinely surprises him. He can feel his response to Richard’s words right in the middle of his chest. He’s been through  _too much_.

“No - no, Richard. That is - utterly inappropriate. I - last year I shared a living space with you out of the purest of intentions, out of  _solidarity_ , Richard, and it was exciting, yes, but it ended painfully and here I am attempting to create healthy boundaries and - and I’m doing it for  _you_ , Richard, for… for the sustainable development of our working relationship, of our interpersonal relationship, for -”

“For our interpersonal relationship, Jared?”

He watches Richard take a few steps towards him, until they’re near enough to touch. Jared thought he knew Richard, but he did not anticipated this. “Yes, Richard. Our interpersonal relationship. I - I value your friendship too much to -”

“I see the way you look at me, Jared.”

Jared doesn’t know what happened to make Richard want a new place to live, but whatever it is… well. Richard Hendricks cannot cope with being told he can’t do something, to the point of forgetting about everything else. Including Jared’s boundaries. Including Jared’s feelings. Including every plea that Jared has made that Richard not behave like a reckless child.

“Richard.” When Jared speaks, his voice is low and steady. He probably sounds like he’s playing a character, but he isn’t. “Richard, I’m going to do us both a favour and forget that you just implied that you would seduce me to get my guest bedroom. I’m going to do that favour if, in exchange, you leave immediately.”

*

Ten minutes later Jared knows exactly what to do.

“Hi, I’m your new neighbour in 446.” Jared says, smiling at the man who opens the door in 448. “I seem to have one pizza too many, would you like to have it? It’s pepperoni and it comes with this beer.”

His neighbour smiles in a bewildered sort of way. “Seriously? I just _totally_ overcooked my tuna casserole. Your timing is amazing, man.”

“Oh, wonderful.”

“I’m Harley.” The man holds out his hand, and realizes Jared’s hands are both full, so he takes the beer in his left hand, leaving both their right hands to shake. He has a good handshake. He’s only slightly shorter than Jared and he’s wearing glasses and an oatmeal-coloured cardigan that looks hand-knit.

“I’m Jared. I have to get back, but it’s lovely to meet you.”

So Jared used to move all the time. He used to have next to no possessions. He used to worry about where his next meal would come from and he used to be unable to respect his own boundaries. And now, he might have no certainty about the future - because there is no such thing - but when he gets back to his unit, Jared realizes that those are all things that might not be true anymore.


End file.
